Athlon Outdoors proudly brings you the third annual Ballistic’s Best awards issue. Our mission: Through unbiased testing and evaluations, create the firearm industry’s preeminent awards and showcase an unprecedented number of best-in-class guns.
There’s no better time to kick the tumultuous year of 2020 out of commission with a huge bang. In fact, 12,700 bangs. That’s the estimated number of total rounds our gun-test/evaluation teams let loose in order to determine the best firearm in the following eight categories:
In the most legitimate, unbiased way, category rankings and winners were determined by the testing teams based on a nine-point criteria system that included aesthetics, ergonomics, sights, trigger control, recoil control, reloading ease, accuracy, reliability and value/price. Only the final tallies of the score sheets were used to crown the winners. Period. Our editorial staff didn’t have any “discussions” to determine our winners in the aforementioned categories.
However, we did believe it was our duty to award several specific products and gear-related companies. Ballistic Editors’ Select awards were based upon both superlative aspects (i.e., Most Diverse Manufacturer) as well as new guns and gear we’ve tested and covered within our unmatched number of print magazines and digital media.
On top of that, we’re launching our annual Ballistic’s Best Reader’s Choice Awards on BallisticMag.com starting Dec. 8. From that day until Jan. 7, 2021, readers will have the opportunity to vote for on the very same categories our panel of experts judged. The best part: One lucky reader will take home a Mossberg 500 ATI Tactical Shotgun—a nominee in our “Best Tactical Pump-Action Shotguns” category.
Our team pledges full honesty and transparency in our scoring process and editorial practices. There’s no pay-to-play funny business in this awards issue or any magazine issue we produce. We have full separation between church (editorial) and state (advertising). In fact, many of the new products evaluated here come from manufacturers that don’t ever advertise in Athlon Outdoors publications. We owe this to you, our readers and faithful Ballistic magazine subscribers, as you are the lifeblood of our existence. Without your trust, we’d be just another gun rag or internet commando spewing biases to grease the money chain.
Want to see all the contenders and winners? Grab a print or digital copy of Ballistic’s Best 2020 at OutdoorGroupStore.com.
About Athlon Outdoors:
Athlon Outdoors is the premier content source for the shooting lifestyle, personal defense, tactical and survival audiences. You can find them at AthlonOutdoors.com or on Instagram at @AthlonOutdoors. You can also experience Athlon Outdoors content at any of its websites:
